Ellen Terry's correspondence was both exuberant and extensive. Her remaining letters provide a fascinating insight into the dynamics of the Victorian theatre, and the difficulties of life for a woman maintaining a successful public persona whilst raising two illegitimate children.

In this essay collection, established experts and new researchers, reassess the performances and cultural significance of Ellen Terry, her daughter Edith Craig (1869-1947) and her son Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966), as well as Bram Stoker, Lewis Carroll and some less familiar figures.

To the American public, she will always be remembered as the woman who had a grapefruit ground into her face by James Cagney in the 1931 film classic Public Enemy. In fact, in an acting career that spanned nearly four decades, Mae Clarke appeared in nearly 100 feature films and logged in nearly as many television appearances. During the two years before she died at the age of 82, Mae Clarke spent many hours reliving those years. In a series of candid and often poignant interviews, she talks about her years in Hollywood, her failed marriage, and her health problems.

May all beings enjoy 'The Enlightenment.' The Enlightenment and Captain James Cook, The Lono-Cook-Kirk-Regenesis, is a thoroughly informative and a deeply personal read. It is a fictionalized biography that takes place during Britain's 'Age of Enlightenment and Discovery' and it is highly 'truth based, ' integrating the 'first written and compiled' Polynesian facts and mythology that includes the diaries and actual journals of the many men on board Cook's ships. No writer has better put together a more complete compilation of the facts integrated with mythology and told in novel form, giving the reader a bird's eye view of the action. She touches on James Cook and his co-relation with Gene Roddenberry's James T. Kirk and how it inter-relates with her own account of learned spiritual wisdom and her 'mythic writers journey.' She gives a personal account of her journey that was guided by the 'Aumakua' (Hawaiian and British ancestors alike) and Archangel Metatron, to create a feature film script about James Cook that led her on a spiritual pilgrimage where she encountered the truth behind, reincarnation, remanifestation, archetypes and extraterrestrial realities. She then made a trip to Sarnath, India and also discovered a link to Polynesia with the name 'Lono' (or Rono; the name Cook was referred to as when he arrived in Polynesia) and the 'Phurba Diety' in ancient Tibet. Reviews This is an important story that needs to be told and your writing is very good. See to it that the film gets produced. Jagdish P. Sharma, Professor, Department of History, University of Hawaii at Manoa

‘A spicy work of biographical conjecture ... It's also a rousing reminder of the countless creative women who have been written out of history or have had to fight relentlessly to make themselves heard.’ EVENING STANDARD ‘The great virtue of Lloyd Malcolm’s speculative history lies in its passion and anger: it ends with a blazing address to the audience that is virtually a call to arms. It is throughout, however, a highly theatrical piece ... In rescuing Emilia from the shades, [the play] gives her dramatic life and polemical potency.’ GUARDIAN The little we know of Emilia Bassano Lanier (1569 - 1645) is that she may have been the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's Sonnets, mistress of Lord Chamberlain, one of the first English female poets to be published, a mother, teacher who founded a school for women, and radical feminist with North African ancestry. Living at a time when women had such limited opportunities, Emilia Lanier is therefore a fascinating subject for this speculative history. In telling her story, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm represents the stories of women everywhere whose narratives have been written out of history. Originally commissioned for Shakespeare's Globe with an all-female cast, Emilia is published here as a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Elizabeth Schafer, Professor of Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

By the mid-1920s, Buster Keaton had established himself as one of the geniuses of cinema with such films as Sherlock, Jr., The Navigator, and his 1927 work The General, which was the highest ranked silent on the American Film Institute's survey of the 100 greatest films. Before Keaton ventured into longer works, however, he had honed his skills as an actor, writer, and director of short films produced in the early 1920s. In Buster Keaton s Silent Shorts: 1920-1923, James L. Neibaur and Terri Niemi provide a film-by-film assessment of these brilliant two-reelers. The authors discuss the significance of each short The High Sign, One Week, Convict 13, The Scarecrow, Neighbors, The Haunted House, Hard Luck, The Goat, The Playhouse, The Boat, The Paleface, Cops, My Wife s Relations, The Blacksmith, Frozen North, Daydreams, The Electric House, The Balloonatic, and The Love Nest to the Keaton filmography, as well as each film s importance to cinema. Offering a clear and in-depth perspective on these 19 films, the authors explain what makes these shorts effective and why they re funny. Buster Keaton s Silent Shorts will enlighten both scholars and casual fans alike about the early work produced by one of cinema's most gifted comedians and filmmakers."

Ellen Terry's correspondence was both exuberant and extensive. Her remaining letters provide a fascinating insight into the dynamics of the Victorian theatre, and the difficulties of life for a woman maintaining a successful public persona whilst raising two illegitimate children.

In The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon-what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. The book's twelve chapters illuminate different aspects of Hitchcock's life and work: "The Boy Who Couldn't Grow Up"; "The Murderer"; "The Auteur"; "The Womanizer"; "The Fat Man"; "The Dandy"; "The Family Man"; "The Voyeur"; "The Entertainer"; "The Pioneer"; "The Londoner"; "The Man of God". Each of these angles reveals something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived, but also the various versions of himself that he projected and those projected on his behalf. White's portrayal illuminates a vital truth: Hitchcock was more than a Hollywood titan; he was the definitive modern artist and his significance reaches far beyond the confines of cinema.

Dudley Riggs didn't have to run away from home to join the circus. Home was the circus. Son of the acclaimed aerial flyers Riggs and Riggs, he made his circus debut as a polar prince parading in a wagon pulled by a polar bear. At the age of five, he graduated to a risque vaudeville act during the circus off- season; at eight, he outgrew his cutes (and his child stardom) and joined his high-flying parents on the trapeze. Eventually he had to learn to "fly funny" because he grew too tall to fly straight. In one way or another, Riggs has been flying ever since. The rest, as they say, is history. And what a story it is. In Flying Funny, Riggs shares many highs and lows while describing circus life and the evolution of America's popular entertainment during the twentieth century. From his early life in circus and vaudeville to his creation of the Brave New Workshop, we see how his show business experience and instincts helped him create in Minneapolis what became the "next wave" in American entertainment-improvisation. As a young man, Riggs lost everything in a tornado, got an education on the fly, and sailed with the All American circus to post-war Japan. On a slow boat home and restless about his future, he developed the idea of Word Jazz-creating a script on stage as it is being performed-and shortly after he opened the Instant Theater in New York. Later, he moved to Minneapolis where he founded the Brave New Workshop, launching the careers of comic greats such as Penn and Teller, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, Louie Anderson, Peter Tolan, Pat Proft, Nancy Steen, Liz Winstead, Al Franken and many others. Today, the Brave New Workshop thrives as the longest running improvisational theater in America. From flying funny on the trapeze to theater without a net, Dudley Riggs's story is filled with hearty laughs and eyebrow-raising insights. With a wry sense of humor and infectious warmth, he shares the exhilaration of flying whether through the air or on the stage.

The unique story of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise - British television's most iconic double act. 'A warm and sympathetic portrait of two pals who conquered the world simply by radiating hilarious friendship' Sunday Times 'Barfe lifts the lid on the lives of TV's most iconic double act... and gets to the heart of what made them so loved by a nation' Sunday Post 'Set to be the definitive account of the television age's funniest pair' New European 'Colour about the characters of [Morecambe and Wise] is mixed with Barfe's usual forensic research' Chortle The Morecambe and Wise Show was the creme de la creme of TV light entertainment from the late 1960s until the early 1980s. The hardy perennial comedy duo at its heart had even greater longevity, spanning five decades and becoming a national institution whose shows drew audiences in excess of twenty million. They also loved each other like brothers, and the audience repaid that love; they were the nation's best friends. In Sunshine and Laughter, Louis Barfe tells the touching story of Morecambe and Wise, and explores how it is that thirty-seven years after their last television show, the tall handsome one with glasses and the one with the short, fat, hairy legs continue to work their unique brand of comedy magic.

This book is the first major study of a French silent cinema star. It focuses on Pierre Batcheff, a prominent popular cinema star in the 1920s, the French Valentino, best-known to modern audiences for his role as the protagonist of the avant-garde film classic Un chien andalou. Unlike other stars, he was linked to intellectual circles, especially the Surrealists. The book places Batcheff in the context of 1920s popular cinema, with specific reference to male stars of the period. It analyses the tensions he exemplifies between the 'popular' and the 'intellectual' during the 1920s, as cinema - the subject of intense intellectual interest across Europe - was racked between commercialism and 'art'. A number of the major films are studied in detail: Le Double amour (Epstein, 1925), Feu Mathias Pascal (L'Herbier, 1925), Education de prince (Diamant-Berger, 1927), Le Joueur d'echecs (Bernard, 1927), La Sirene des tropiques (Etievant and Nalpas, 1927), Les Deux timides (Clair, 1928), Un chien andalou (Bunuel, 1929), Monte-Cristo (Fescourt, 1929), and Baroud (Ingram, 1932). Key features: *The first major study of a French silent cinema star. *Provides an in-depth analysis of star performance. *Includes extensive appendices of documents from popular cinema magazines of the period.

What happens when a girl tries to grow up in a world where everyone wants her to remain a child?

Hayley Mills’s teenage decade in Hollywood produced some of the era’s greatest family movies: classics like Pollyanna, The Parent Trap and In Search of the Castaways, and in Britain the acclaimed Whistle Down the Wind. Overnight, Hayley became a teen idol and a household name.

In Forever Young Hayley takes us back to a bygone era, charting a journey from her carefree childhood in post-war Britain, growing up in the shadow of her famous theatrical family, to being propelled into the Technicolor boomtown of 1960s Hollywood, where she was mentored to stardom by Walt Disney himself. With characteristic warmth, honesty and humour, Hayley finally shares her own coming-of-age story – a tale of incredible twists of fate and fortune.

Stanislavsky in Focus brilliantly examines the history and actual premises of Stanislavsky's 'System', separating myth from fact with forensic skill. The first edition of this now classic study showed conclusively how the 'System' was gradually transformed into the Method, popularised in the 1950s by Lee Strasberg and the Actor's Studio. It looked at the gap between the original Russian texts and what most English-speaking practitioners still imagine to be Stanislavsky's ideas. This thoroughly revised new edition also delves even deeper into: the mythical depiction of Stanislavsky as a tyrannical director and teacher yoga, the mind-body-spirit continuum and its role in the 'System' how Stanislavsky used subtexts to hide many of his ideas from Soviet censors. The text has been updated to address all of the relevant scholarship, particularly in Russia, since the first edition was published. It also features an expanded glossary on the System's terminology and its historical exercises, as well as more on the political context of Stanislavsky's work, its links with cognitive science, and the System's relation to contemporary developments in actor-training. It will be a vital part of every practitioner's and historian's library.

Show-business legend Dick Van Dyke is living proof that life does get better the longer you live it. Who better to offer instruction, advice, and humour than someone who's entering his ninth decade with a jaunty two-step? Van Dyke isn't just a born song-and-dance man his irrepressible belief in embracing the moment and unleashing his inner child has proved to be the ultimate elixir of youth. When he was injured during the filming of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , his doctor warned him he'd be using a walker within seven years, but Dick performed a soft shoe right there and never looked back.In Keep Moving , Dick Van Dyke offers his own playful anecdotes and advice, as well as insights from his brother, actor Jerry Van Dyke his friend and creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show , Carl Reiner and other spirited friends and family. Whether he's describing the pleasure he takes in his habitual visits to the grocery store how he met his late-in-life-love Arlene or how he sprung back, livelier than ever, from a near-death experience, Dick's optimistic outlook is an invigorating tonic for anyone who needs a reminder that life should be lived with enthusiasm despite what the calendar says. You don't have to act your age. You don't even have to feel it. And if it does attempt to elbow its way into your life, you do not have to pay attention. If I am out shopping and hear music playing in a store, I start to dance. If I want to sing, I sing. I read books and get excited about new ideas. I enjoy myself. I don't think about the way I am supposed to act at my age - or at any age. As far as I know, there is no manual for old age. There is no test you have to pass. There is no way you have to behave. There is no such thing as'age appropriate.'When people ask my secret to staying youthful at an age when getting up and down from your chair on your own is considered an accomplishment, you know what I tell them?'Keep moving.'"- Dick Van Dyke

This expanded second edition of Contemporary European Theatre Directors is an ambitious and unprecedented overview of many of the key directors working in European theatre over the past 30 years. This book is a vivid account of the vast range of work undertaken in European theatre during the last three decades, situated lucidly in its artistic, cultural, and political context. Each chapter discusses a particular director, showing the influences on their work, how it has developed over time, its reception, and the complex relation it has with its social and cultural context. The volume includes directors living and working in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Russia, Romania, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, offering a broad and international picture of the directing landscape. Now revised and updated, Contemporary European Theatre Directors is an ideal text for both undergraduate and postgraduate directing students, as well as those researching contemporary theatre practices, providing a detailed guide to the generation of directors whose careers were forged and tempered in the changing Europe following the end of the Cold War.

Before she achieved immortality on the long-running situation comedy Bewitched, Agnes Moorehead had established a distinguished career as a character actress. After her screen debut in Citizen Kane (1941), Moorehead became one of the most familiar female faces on the silver screen. For moviegoers of the 1940s and '50s, she was the quintessential character actress, earning four Academy Award nominations during a career that saw her gain the respect of her peers in all four major entertainment media: radio, film, theater, and television. In The Films of Agnes Moorehead, Axel Nissen looks at the actress's sixty-three feature films between 1941 and 1973. Each film is profiled here, with particular emphasis placed on the films that merit closer attention: Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Mrs. Parkington, Dark Passage, All That Heaven Allows, The Left Hand of God, The Swan, Tempest, The Bat, and Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Arranged in chronological order, the discussion of these films highlights Moorehead's contribution to each feature. In addition to analyzing her performances, the author discusses the development of Moorehead's career as a whole, along with her relationship with various studios, directors, producers, and fellow actors. Based on extensive interviews with the actress's surviving friends and co-workers, as well as detailed archival research into primary sources, this book brings to light new information not just about Moorehead's work in film, but on her life and career in general. Though this book will certainly appeal to movie buffs, The Films of Agnes Moorehead will also be of interest to students and scholars of classic Hollywood films, including those interested in women and film, gender studies, and film history.

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics is a landmark celebration of the remarkable life and career of a country music and pop culture legend.

As told by Dolly Parton in her own inimitable words, explore the songs that have defined her journey. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished images from Dolly Parton's personal and business archives.

Mining over 60 years of songwriting, Dolly Parton highlights 150 of her songs and brings readers behind the lyrics.

• Packed with never-before-seen photographs and classic memorabilia
• Explores personal stories, candid insights, and myriad memories behind the songs

• Learn the history behind classic Parton songs like "Jolene," "9 to 5," "I Will Always Love You," and more.
• The perfect gift for Dolly Parton fans (everyone loves Dolly!) as well as lovers of music history and country

Basil Rathbone is synonymous with Sherlock Holmes. He played the Victorian sleuth in the fourteen Fox/Universal films of the 1930s and '40s, as well as on stage and radio. For many people, he is the Holmes. Basil Rathbone grew to hate Sherlock Holmes. The character placed restrictions on his career: before Holmes he was an esteemed theatre actor, appearing in Broadway plays such as The Captive and The Swan, the latter of which became his launchpad to greater stardom. But he never, ever escaped his most famous role. Basil Rathbone was not Sherlock Holmes. In The Curse of Sherlock Holmes, celebrated biographer David Clayton looks at the behind-the-camera life of a remarkable man who deserved so much more than to be relegated to just one role.

Yukio Ninagawa (1935-2016) was Japan's foremost director of Shakespeare whose productions were acclaimed around the world. His work was lauded for its spectacular imagery, its inventive use of Japanese iconography and its striking fusion of Eastern and Western theatre traditions. Over a career spanning six decades, Ninagawa directed 31 of Shakespeare's plays, many of them, including Hamlet, on multiple occasions. His productions of Macbeth, The Tempest, Pericles, Twelfth Night and Cymbeline became seminal events in world Shakespeare production during the last 30 years. This is the first English-language book dedicated exclusively to Ninagawa's work. Featuring an overview of his extraordinary output, this study considers his Shakespearean work within the context of his overall career. Individual chapters cover Ninagawa's approach Shakespeare and Greek tragedy, in particular his landmark productions of Macbeth and Medea, and his eight separate productions of Hamlet. The volume includes a detailed analysis of the Sai-no-Kuni Shakespeare Series - in which Ninagawa set out to stage all of Shakespeare's plays in his hometown of Saitama, north of Tokyo. Written by Conor Hanratty, who studied with Ninagawa for over a year, it offers a unique and unprecedented glimpse into the work and approach of one of the world's great theatre directors.

In 1984 Antony Sher, hailed as "the most exciting actor of his generation" by the Observer, made his debut - on homemade crutches - as the infamous Richard III in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of the play. He would go on to win the Laurence Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for best actor. In his own words and sketches, he chronicles his personal and professional journey to this award-winning performance, from the moment he was offered the role to opening night, in the critically acclaimed book Year of the King, now available in this special 20th anniversary edition. From his brainstorm to use crutches to bring the king's deformity to life, to his research for the role, which included watching interviews with psychopaths, reading about mass murderers, and speaking with doctors and physically challenged individuals, to his visit to his homeland of South Africa, to his experiences in working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the reader is given a front-row seat to Sher's physical and mental preparation - or rather transformation - for his landmark performance as "the bottled spider."

"Clap your hands, rattle your jewelry, and twist and shout for Erin Hosier's Don't Let Me Down....Fierce, catchy, hilarious--like your favorite vinyl punk 45--this bird can sing. A glorious memoir." -- Brando Skyhorse, author of Take This Man This fierce and witty memoir about a father-daughter relationship "is a beautifully written, honest, and often funny account of what it is to grow up as a woman" (Nancy Balbirer, author of A Marriage in Dog Years). Erin Hosier's coming-of-age was full of contradictions. Born into the turbulent 1970s, she was raised in rural Ohio by lapsed hippies who traded 1960s rock 'n' roll for 1950s-era Christian hymns. Her mother's newfound faith was rooted in a desire to manage her husband's mood swings, which could alternately fill the house with music or with violence. With the Beatles providing the soundtrack, Erin grew up adoring her larger than life father, Jack. Together, they bonded over their iconic songs, even as they inspired Erin to question authority--both her father's and others'. Don't Let Me Down is about a brave girl trying to navigate family secrets and tragedies and escape from small-town small-mindedness. With her lyrical and tender writing, Erin "doesn't shy away from the complications and contradictions of love, sharing both the best and the worst of her volatile, vibrant father and detailing--in her singular and often hilarious voice, the difficulty of leaving childhood, home, and the people who loved you first" (Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of The Nest).